Hello, just registered as i have a passion for French automotive quirkiness. My first car was a 1980 Renault 5 TL with a great vinyl sunroof and I have recently re-visited it by buying a Citroen C3 Pluriel which I think is a good modern take on the essentials of old French cars (without the practicality though!) having thought about and rejected the idea of a Citroen Ami 6 (too rare and odd) I'm on the look out for a decent Renault 4.....They appear on Ebay but the idea of buying a car on the 'bay fills me with dread, where else should I be looking? You probably get asked this question a lot so apologies, I'm new here!
- Thread starter MJE
- Start date
malcolm
& Clementine the Cat
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- Bedford UK
Hi MJE, welcome to the forum.
There are a few places on the net where you can find Renault 4s. There is here: http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/forum-8.html
http://www.renault4.co.uk/sale/cars.htm (shows Renault 4s currently on eBay UK)
and
UK: http://www.renault4.plus.com/classifieds/classifieds.htm
UK: http://www.renaultownersclub.com/classified.html
UK: http://www.renaultclassiccarclub.com/cars_for_sale.htm
France: http://quatrelle.online.fr/accueil.html an click on annonces
Netherlands: http://www.windclassics.nl/ and click on Occasions
If you are after a really nice one there is a guy in Leicester who is threatening to sell some of his collection - see halfway down the page on http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/about113.html He hasn't announced prices yet.
I wouldn't rule out E-bay. You go to see the car as normal to figure out if you want it. Only problem is you won't know how much you have to pay until the end of the auction. There are occasionally some decent looking cars on there.
Good to hear you are thinking of a 4. Mine is an every day car and I love the practicality, although it is a little slow and noisy by modern standards. But they are cute so you can forgive them that. Do read all about rear chassis rust. It's mentioned quite a lot on this site (to such an extent that find the pages in Google searching for rear chassis rust). That's the main killer for these cars. Unlike 2CVs the Renault 4 doesn't have a steady supply of new galvanised chassis so we have to repair them.
:clementi:
There are a few places on the net where you can find Renault 4s. There is here: http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/forum-8.html
http://www.renault4.co.uk/sale/cars.htm (shows Renault 4s currently on eBay UK)
and
UK: http://www.renault4.plus.com/classifieds/classifieds.htm
UK: http://www.renaultownersclub.com/classified.html
UK: http://www.renaultclassiccarclub.com/cars_for_sale.htm
France: http://quatrelle.online.fr/accueil.html an click on annonces
Netherlands: http://www.windclassics.nl/ and click on Occasions
If you are after a really nice one there is a guy in Leicester who is threatening to sell some of his collection - see halfway down the page on http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/about113.html He hasn't announced prices yet.
I wouldn't rule out E-bay. You go to see the car as normal to figure out if you want it. Only problem is you won't know how much you have to pay until the end of the auction. There are occasionally some decent looking cars on there.
Good to hear you are thinking of a 4. Mine is an every day car and I love the practicality, although it is a little slow and noisy by modern standards. But they are cute so you can forgive them that. Do read all about rear chassis rust. It's mentioned quite a lot on this site (to such an extent that find the pages in Google searching for rear chassis rust). That's the main killer for these cars. Unlike 2CVs the Renault 4 doesn't have a steady supply of new galvanised chassis so we have to repair them.
:clementi:
Ebay is quite good. You can get real bargains.
I have bought 2 cars via Ebay. A taxed and tested for 3 months Saab 9000 2l Auto for £25.
And my current car which is a 19 16V for £80
Ebay doesn't mean you have to pay fopr the item you have won. It has to match the description etc the seller put up so if its wrong (which may or not be to your advantage) you can back out.
Most will also let you view the car before the auction ends, I find a nice e-mail to them saying I'm intrested but would like to view before I bid usually puts you in a good light to them.
I have bought 2 cars via Ebay. A taxed and tested for 3 months Saab 9000 2l Auto for £25.
And my current car which is a 19 16V for £80
Ebay doesn't mean you have to pay fopr the item you have won. It has to match the description etc the seller put up so if its wrong (which may or not be to your advantage) you can back out.
Most will also let you view the car before the auction ends, I find a nice e-mail to them saying I'm intrested but would like to view before I bid usually puts you in a good light to them.
malcolm
& Clementine the Cat
- Messages
- 4,529
- Location
- Bedford UK
I've seen a lot of Renault 4s on eBay which have been correctly descibed but would certainly disappoint the new owner.
I'd definitely treat eBay like any other place where you buy cars - go and look at the car before buying. If you really like the car you could make an offer while you are there - the seller could remove the car from E-bay if he thinks your offer is higher than the price he's get otherwise.
The Renault 4s don't tend to be amongst the bargains on eBay. I bid £500 for a car I really wanted (It had bench seats
) but had terminal rear chassis rust. I was outbid by someone who hadn't even been to look at the car.
:clementi:
I'd definitely treat eBay like any other place where you buy cars - go and look at the car before buying. If you really like the car you could make an offer while you are there - the seller could remove the car from E-bay if he thinks your offer is higher than the price he's get otherwise.
The Renault 4s don't tend to be amongst the bargains on eBay. I bid £500 for a car I really wanted (It had bench seats
) but had terminal rear chassis rust. I was outbid by someone who hadn't even been to look at the car.:clementi:
Ta, for the replies. I'm not looking for me initially, it's for my girlfriend's sister. I'm just recovering from my brush with a BMW 1602 which I loved but had to let go for spares or repair. The Pluriel is providing fun transport and ticks the right boxes in my head but my heart is in France in the '70's. I remember holidays in Brittany in the late '70's and French cars just seemed so 'different'. Peugeot 204 cabrio's with their elegant 'boat' tails, Citroen Ami 6's with that odd inward sloping rear window, 'Shark'like DS' and battered Renault 4's with livestock in the back. I've just got back from France and the cars are so much more generic 'Euro' today. The Pluriel and the Renault Modus have a hint of that gallic quirkiness, I just wish I could get that roof down a bit more regularly.
La Poste
Enthusiast
- Messages
- 100
You were obviously in the wrong bit of France! From where I'm sitting I can see through the window an ex-post office Renault 4 van, a Citroen Ami 8 saloon (normal rear window, unlike the Ami 6 with its Ford Anglia styling), an Ami 8 estate, two Citroen Acadiane vans, two 2CVs, and a Citroen H-van (that's one of those Transit-sized corrugated things, for the uninitiated). Okay, I admit that they're all mine, but I'm hoping to get a grant from the French tourist office in exchange for parking them in local towns and villages once the tourist season begins... :lol:
Seriously though, you're right, French roads aren't what they were ten or fifteen years ago. Blame the government - they set up a scheme where people were paid to scrap their old car if they bought a brand new one to replace it, and in doing so sent thousands of perfectly good and unbelievably quirky old cars to an early grave. B*%*&#*s....
Good, clean R4s still crop up for sale here from time to time (left-hand drive, of course), but in terms of price forget it - second-hand cars are a fortune here compared to the UK. That's the government's fault too - see above!
Seriously though, you're right, French roads aren't what they were ten or fifteen years ago. Blame the government - they set up a scheme where people were paid to scrap their old car if they bought a brand new one to replace it, and in doing so sent thousands of perfectly good and unbelievably quirky old cars to an early grave. B*%*&#*s....
Good, clean R4s still crop up for sale here from time to time (left-hand drive, of course), but in terms of price forget it - second-hand cars are a fortune here compared to the UK. That's the government's fault too - see above!
pepper
Pepper The One and Only!
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- 2,251
I agree with La Poste, about the prices for cars in France, I believe its where we have an advantage with being right hand drive, no one else in Europe wants them! Whereas a worn out French car could be bought and used in other countries ours are far more difficult to do so. I didn't even bother looking for a Renault 4 in France when this rust free example I've just bought came up.
Oh La Poste what department do you live in?
Our house is in 85 the Vendee were near Vouvant and about an hour from La Rochelle.
Oh La Poste what department do you live in?
Our house is in 85 the Vendee were near Vouvant and about an hour from La Rochelle.
pepper
Pepper The One and Only!
- Messages
- 2,251
I also meant to say I've bought several cars off ebay and had great success with them, I do generally go and view before purchasing, unless silly cheap, I bought an Austin Allegro Vanden Plas as a wedding car for £250 and sold her two weeks later for over £400 back on ebay. The wedding was great, really cheesy with my good lady turning up in her VW hippy wagon.